El expreso del horror

I have vivid childhood memories of "Horror Express." When I watched the film as a young 'un, I was vaguely traumatized by its imagery of dead people with white, blank, blood-leaking eyes. Creepy stuff, for a kid.

Now that I'm an adult, with plenty of gory movies under my belt, I've largely gotten over my childhood dread of this odd little film. And yet, "Horror Express" still packs a scary punch for me during its best scenes. The train setting is both romantic and claustrophobic, and the monster is effective in both its human and creature forms.

The script blends science fiction and horror to interesting effect, suggesting that the monster is some kind of "unholy" alien. I've seen a lot of horror/sci-fi hybrid stories on TV (in Kolchak, The X-Files, Doctor Who, etc.), but not too many in the movies - so "Horror Express" is fairly unique in its blending of genres for the silver screen.

This movie is also noteworthy for its first-rate genre cast. Of course, horror icons Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee are on hand (unusually, Lee has more dialog than Cushing - the reverse is usually true). But the really noteworthy piece of casting is Telly "Kojak" Savalas as a loud, bossy Cossack captain. To be honest, I think his glorified cameo is a little outrageous, and temporarily threatens to derail the film (pun entirely intended, I'm afraid), but ultimately he doesn't distract too much from the other, better-established characters.

Of course this is no masterpiece, but fans of what I call "good little horror films" should enjoy it immensely. It's got good ideas, scares, gore, eye candy, and cool actors - what more do you need, right?

When you get two grandmasters of horror, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee together in a film, you know you're in for a good ride, and that on the Trans-Siberian Express with a monster on the loose.

In 1906, Professor Sir Alexander Saxton( Christopher Lee, a renowned British anthropologist, is returning to Europe by the Trans-Siberian Express from Shanghai to Moscow. With him is a crate containing the frozen remains of a primitive humanoid creature that he discovered in a cave in Manchuria. Along for the ride is Doctor Wells, who doesn't get along with Saxton, but when the creature escapes from the box, and with the bodies piling up with their eyes turned white they have to act fast to stop it - but already the creature has found a new host ...

Not your typical monster on the spree romp, Horror express is sprinkled with some intelligence. The monster is curious about the earth. A brisk direction and elevated tension keeps this film simmering, but it's Cushing and Lee that add high credentials to this chiller. Telly Savalas has a small cameo. Silvia Tortosa and Helga Line provide eye candy.

All aboard the Trans-Siberian Express - non stop to the shores of hell. That's the interpretation of the priest character on board. But he's off-base; it's an alien monster that's causing all the trouble - a monster derivative of "The Thing" story, but about 10 years before John Carpenter presented his version. The creature is literally millions of years old, having passed through various forms as life evolved on Earth; then someone makes the mistake of storing it on board in a frozen apelike fossil. Next thing you know, certain individuals are behaving strangely, with glowing red eyes, and others turn up dead with eyes whited out (and brains drained). This, of course, benefits from the umpteenth pairing of Lee and Cushing; Lee is the arrogant scientist here and Cushing is again a doctor. Much of the entertaining dialogue stems from the conflict between science and religion, during the transitional phase of the early 20th century. The priest rants on about Satan; Lee calls it rubbish. Here's a typical quote from the priest: 'There's the stench of death on board this train; even the dog knows it.' The dog belongs to a couple of aristocratic Russians on board.

At the one hour mark, Savalas shows up as a power-mad Cossack with his soldiers, ready to kick everyone to hell and back. He manages to make quite an impression in the next 15 minutes as the death toll escalates. He and the two leads (British all the way) sort of ham it up, as if knowing they're in some crackerjack cheesy horror material, but there's also quite a bit of eeriness to the proceedings. The filmmakers managed to get the nice train set from an earlier big budget production and made good use of it. The train itself becomes nearly another character, hurtling through the dark with snow and a chill wind all around, and the interior set design is quite good. The musical score is also unusual; when one expects ominous tones during some sequences, instead we get a kind of tuneful melody. But the best thing about this is the concept itself - this thing, this form of energy, having been around forever and theoretically capable of curing all our ills, contents itself with the easy kill. Boy, does it like to drain brains.

Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. The two go together like strawberries and cream, like white wine and fish. One is a glove, the other is a hand that fits perfectly inside. The Lee/Cushing partnership made many movies together during the '50s, '60s and '70s, including some of the finest Hammer horror movies. Of their three decades as screen partners, their work from the 1970s is probably their weakest - Nothing But The Night, Dracula AD 1972, and The Satanic Rites Of Dracula are inferior examples of their films together. However, even in he '70s "low period" they still served up the occasional gem. The Creeping Flesh was a nicely done horror flick with a wickedly unexpected twist ending, and this - known in America and Britain as "Horror Express" - is a powerful and inventive bloodcurdler with a sprinkling of science fiction.

In Siberia, 1906, anthropologist Alexander Saxton (Lee) finds a frozen creature which he believes to be the Missing Link. He transports the being back to western Europe by trans-Siberian train. Aboard the train are the usual assorted types:- a Polish countess (Silvia Tortosa); her husband (Jorge Rigaud); a mad monk seemingly modelled on Rasputin (Alberto De Mendoza); and a fellow scientist and long-time rival of Saxton's, the charismatic Dr Wells (Cushing). Midway through the journey, as the train passes through a desolate snowscape many miles from civilisation, the creature thaws out and begins killing the passengers. Wells carries out an autopsy on the corpses and realises that they are not up against the Missing Link, but a weird alien organism which inhabits the bodies of its victims and steals their memories. As the finger of suspicion falls upon each character, the scientists try to figure out which passenger is "carrying" the shape-shifting monster, while trying to keep everyone safe and alive.

Horror Express has its share of dumb moments (what horror film doesn't?) but in the main it is quite an intelligent and original piece. Some of the supporting actors are quite amateurish, too, giving performances that distract one's attention for the wrong reasons. However, Cushing and Lee are believable as always, and it's their straight-faced conviction which makes the story as spine-tingling as it is. There is also a well-developed subtext in the film condemning religious fanaticism, with Mendoza's character shown to be so unreasonable and misguided that his "Christian" rantings are every bit as disturbing as the teachings of a heretic. The atmosphere is spookily maintained, with lots of eerie scenes (which probably got many a heart fluttering back in 1973, in the pre-Exorcist days of the horror genre). In particular, the climactic sequence in which Cossack soldiers, led by Telly Savalas, board the train only to be zombified by the deadly alien, is a chilling episode. You may need to be a fan of old-school horror flicks to enjoy Horror Express, but if you are it's definitely one worth seeking out.

Spanish-British co-production that is one of the most representative exponents of Spanish horror cinema, gaining great popularity in the early seventies. The film contains an atmospheric mix of hair-raising thrills and surprising chills, combined with a fantastic ending, though most of the action revolves around the attempts to chase and kill this strange creature.1906, in the remote Manchuria, professor Alexander encounters a long frozen corpse. When he smuggles it aboard the Transiberian train, then the monster is awakened and coming to life, breaking out, running rampant around the train and making a killing rampage. Meanwhile, archaeologist Alexander Saxton (Christopher Lee) meets professor Welles(Peter Cushing). Both join forces against the weirdo creature. The movie depicts the havoc and killing that begin when the monster escapes, lurks and terrorizes. The bulk of action surrounds their attempts to chase and intent on killing this bizarre creature. Meantime, the passengers and crew run afoul, they're forced to fight their lives and pursued by the killer beast which is making a brutal slaughter.

The film was a surprise at its premiere, getting a large international cast, starring the two most representative actors of Hammer Films and obtaining great success at the global box office, dealing with a ferocious prehistoric monster that is transported on the Trans-Siberian train, when the monster awakens and comes to life, subsequently running rampant around the train and causing an astonishing carnage. Well directed by Eugenio Martin, specialized in this type of genre productions, he makes an impressive film, knowing how to use very well the train where the action takes place, the models, the characterizations of the actors, as well as the special effects with lots of guts and gore. The film not only has nothing to envy, but also resembles the Hammer productions at the time. It displays lots of guts and blood but it seems pretty mild compared to today's gore feasts. It's an unrelenting shock-feast laced with nice acting by the two Hammer genre's stars that deserves its cult status. Furthermore, magnificent Telly Savalas , before Kojak, as a crazed Cossack commander and Alberto De Menzoza as a Rasputin-style monk. Lively secondary cast is frankly cool, so the supporting cast is downright great, made up of well-known Spanish actors, such as: Alberto De Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Angel Del Pozo, Víctor Israel, Helga Liné, José Jaspe, José Canalejas, José Marco, Barta Barri, Jorge Rigaud, among others.

This unfolds a bone-chilling and suspenseful musical score by John Cavacas. Next to a lush photograph with juicy atmosphere by Alejandro Ulloa, but unfortunately it becomes too murky in some edited prints. Good work by makeup supervisor Julián Ruiz and evocative sets by Ramiro Gómez. The film was well and competently directed by Eugenio Martin or Gene Martin. He was an expert in horror films (Hypnosis, A Candle for the Devil, The Fourth Mrs. Anderson) and Spaghetti Westerns (Pancho Villa, Bounty Hunter, The Bad River Man). Rating: 7/10. Above average. It is a relentless feast of shocks with enjoyable performances by the two stars of the Hammer genre, well worth seeing. A very decent horror film that seems pretty tame compared to today's gore feasts.